ITC’s makeover into a diversified conglomerate began about two decades ago after it entered product categories that could harness the distribution reach of its core tobacco business.Writankar Mukherjee | ET Bureau | April 27, 2017, 09:00 IST

(Thinkstock Images)ITC would re-position its personal-care products every 6-12 months and explore unconventional outlets for selling soaps, shampoos, or shower gels, as India’s most valued consumer company seeks to establish its leadership credentials in a segment it entered 12 years ago.

Outrunning entrenched competitors, such as Hindustan Unilever, would require innovation in product forms such as pocket deodorants and hand-wash sachets, expansion of the Savlon antiseptic brand into newer categories, and brand introductions at regular intervals, said Sameer Satpathy, who is the chief executive of ITC’s personal care division.

“We have to bring about changes in the product portfolio every 6-12 months, since what is offered today is fast losing interest,” Satpathy told ET. “The attention span of consumers is shrinking, and they are ready to experiment.”

Cigarette major ITC’s makeover into a diversified conglomerate began about two decades ago after the Calcutta-based company — ranked fourth on India’s market-capitalisation leader board — entered product categories that could harness the distribution reach of its core tobacco business.

Packaged foods and personal-care products entered ITC’s portfolio of offerings, with the company building both home-grown brands, and buying others to enter new segment. Savlon, acquired from Johnson & Johnson a couple of years ago, was one such acquisition.

Satpathy joined ITC in December 2015 from Marico, and he is one of the few lateral hires at the company. It has been a year since he became the chief executive of the personal care business, with a mandate to turn around ITC performance in the competitive product categories.

Satpathy said that the company is now trying to sell hand washes and pocket deodorants through paan shops and smaller neighbourhood stores that were hitherto not tapped for selling these products.

ITC has already gained market share to feature for the first time among the top three brands in the shower gel, hand wash, and deodorant categories.

According to the Nielsen value market share data sourced from the industry, ITC’s Fiama Di Wills gained 4% share in the shower-gel category to become the second largest brand with a 17% share. Nivea, at 20%, was the leader in this category in the January-March quarter.

In the handwash category, Savlon has gained a 5% share to become the third largest brand, although Dettol with 49%, and Lifebuoy with 25% share are far ahead. In some markets such as Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, ITC’s Savlon had 10% and 14% share, respectively. In deodorants, ITC’s Engage is the second-biggest brand, with a 9% share, compared with Vini Cosmetics’ Fogg at 18%.

ITC requires its non-tobacco consumer businesses to enhance their profitability so that the company need not rely exclusively on the cigarette division to bankroll its expansion.